OKC Thunder Positioned to Win NBA Finals for First Time Ever

For the first time in its short but illustrious tenure in the NBA, the Thunder are positioned to win the NBA Finals.

The team’s season feels far from over, given that the white-hot Indiana Pacers still stand betwixt the Thunder and a Finals win. But there’s little arguing that this will be the team’s best chance at winning it all.

So far, Oklahoma City has cruised by Memphis in four games, out-lasted then-reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in seven games, and played perhaps its best series of the postseason in crushing the Timberwolves in five games.

Since relocation, the team has only made the Finals once, when it stood across from LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 2012 with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Deemed “The Heatles,” Miami was an all-time roster featuring several of the greatest players of all-time, and was favored to beat the young Thunder, which it eventually did.

While the Pacers are a great and perpetually underrated team in their own right, OKC is certainly better positioned to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy at season’s end. This time around, they're potentially the all-time team.

OKC effectively has the best player in the league, and especially remaining, in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. A two-way All-Star in Jalen Williams, one of the best 7-footers in the league in Chet Holmgren, and an all-time supporting cast that’s helped the team win 80 games before 20 losses. Most importantly, its defense has been potentially the best unit ever.

And the odds support this. Oklahoma City opened up as an -800 favorite per most major betting sites to come home with the gold, and a 9.5-point favorite to win Game 1 — both wide margins. 

The Thunder will certainly have to play to their identity to beat Indiana four times. Star guard Tyrese Haliburton is as impactful as guards get, all while limiting turnovers and setting up a strong cast of shooters. Pascal Siakam has already proven himself capable of winning a title in the wingman role. And to cap it all off, Indiana has seen a blistering month shooting the ball — which has been a thorn in OKC's side for some time now.

Regardless, the Thunder are on-paper, statistically and visually the better basketball team. And losing the to Pacers would require some fairly earth-shattering factors to occur. As it stands now, the Thunder are the favorites to win the NBA title, something only those truly tapped in expected.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals tips off on Thursday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m. CT.